[METALCORE WEEK!] Schedule for Week of 4/7/2012

Lasting4Answer with Ponchi & me in the corner

There's something really special about Japanese metalcore. It's kind of wrong to even call it that, but I don't want to bother making up a new word. "Japanese Metalcore" is probably the best title, because I've only heard one band outside of Japan play this style (Reprisal from Italy). It is truly a homegrown mash-up of a bunch of styles. So, this week, I'm focusing on that. I don't have a lot of this stuff, since I didn't really get into it until a few years ago.

If you're interested, a really great primer for this style is the "The Document" compilation which was released from Out Ta Bomb records. It has all the essential bands for this genre that were around at the time. I don't have a physical copy, but you could probably track it down somewhere online.

So, queued up for this week are some from my collection. Then I'm ripping some videos of bands I taped. These two bands were in my area and we all hung out together on many occasions. Lasting4Answer broke up some time ago, but Down2Earth changed their name to NOT II BELIKESOMEONE and are still playing. They released a demo as recent as 2010, and they're still playing around.

Also, I have to apologize for the late posts last week. I didn't put as much time last weekend to upload and have everything ready, so I was having to wait until after work to actually finish up the posts. I'll try to be better this week (keyword is 'try').

Monday - State Craft - ...To Celebrate the Forlorn Seasons [2000]
     - The only place to start. The ultimate Japanese metalcore.
Tuesday - [Youtube] Lasting4Answer live
     - Some good friends of mine.
Wednesday - Mind Touch - Demo-EP
     - Diverse melodic metalcore.
Thursday - Down2Earth live
     - My main crew in Kansai. Epic metalcore.
Friday - NOT II BELIKESOMEONE - Tragic Orchestra
     - The best hybrid of melody, toughness, and metal.